Sitting in her Brooklyn hotel room ahead of that city’s production of A Drag Queen Christmas — a celebratory annual holiday revue starring some RuPaul’s Drag Race’s most celebrated queens, now in its 10th year — mistress of ceremonies Nina West quickly shows how she won the Miss Congeniality title in her Drag Race season. The activist, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-endorsed fan favorite, and proud “black sheep” of a political family, who has used her platform to spread much-needed joy year-round since competing on Drag Race Season 11 and All Stars 9, speaks eloquently enough that she herself could run for office. But she feels she can make more of an impact as a “disruptor outside of the system,” and she also believes that even light-hearted, escapist entertainment like A Drag Queen Christmas can make a difference — at a time when the LGBTQ+ community is craving connection and comfort.

“I’m really just excited to use this opportunity to tour the country with a message of hope, with a message of joy, and a message of marking a new tradition or coming home to a familiar tradition,” says West. “I think innately, our act of getting in drag is at its core a political act, because we’re bucking the system and we’re wearing clothes that are not made for what our gender-marker might be. And that’s political alone, but at its core also, drag is this subcultural art form in that it’s multi-pronged. It is there to be political, but it’s also there to be a reminder of what we are as queer people, which is when people oftentimes don’t provide us a space, we find our own space and we create our own joy and we create our own celebrations.

“And I think that this is just a further continuance of that we’re celebrating. We’re continuing this joy down this path. That’s what we’re doing with this Christmas tour, which is reminding people that there’s joy out there in the world to be harvested and to be shared and to be given to one another. I think that that’s the job here. The job is to be givers of joy and using our platforms to speak to that joy, and to also challenge people into what creates the best, most equitable and fair and equal society and culture for all of us.”

In the video above and insightful Q&A below, West opens up about why drag, the arts, celebration, and coming together as a community are so important right now, and what her hopes are for the new year. Click here to learn more about West’s work with her Nina West Foundation.

LYNDSANITY: So, we all need a little Christmas — A Drag Queen Christmas — right this very minute. Full disclosure: I don’t know if you know this, but the original timeslot when we were supposed to do this interview was the morning of Nov. 6.

NINA WEST: Oh, wow.

Yeah, we were going to do this at 9:30 in morning the day after the election, and I actually wondered if that was going to be the right time for either of us to talk about a drag Christmas tour, so I postponed it.

That’s good, that’s good. Because I don’t know if I would’ve been in a state to chat about it.

Exactly. And knowing how political you are and you whole AOC connection, I would love to talk about some political stuff with you and about the amazing activism that you do. But before we get into that stuff, let’s stick with the fun stuff, which is the A Drag Queen Christmas tour. We do need escape right now. Plus, the holidays are going to be a little bit weird this year — some people might have to go home to their families and have awkward conversations around the table with their MAGA uncle or whatever. What can people who are looking for a good time expect from this show?

Yeah, the holidays are here, and there’s no other better way to spread Christmas cheer than with something that’s very queer. That’s a rhyme, and you can put that in print! Because I think that A Drag Queen Christmas is such a fantastic way for a lot of people, who choose to celebrate the season in this way, to have this fabulous outlet to celebrate. This is my fourth year hosting. I’m honored to be a part of this tradition. It’s the 10th anniversary tour, which is the biggest tour yet. And this Christmas tour is just a nonstop cast of some of the greatest people who’ve ever walked the runway. We’ve got Brooke Lynne Hytes, we’ve got Roxxxxy Andrews, we’ve got Jimbo, we’ve got Sasha Colby, we have Plasma, Plane Jane, Sapphira Cristál, Lady Camden, depending on what city and what stop. You just can’t beat this lineup. I just think there’s nothing more fabulous and wonderful to welcome the holiday season and make it so affirming than A Drag Queen Christmas.

Is there anything special you’re all doing to commemorate the 10th anniversary of A Drag Queen Christmas?

It’s big! Oh my God, it’s so big. Big production value. We’ve got some incredible dancers, every single number, every single show. The production value is just big, so over-the-top —  I mean, no crumbs have been left, as the queens say. No crumbs. So yeah, it is a big, big show and a big tour, and it couldn’t come at a better time.

In general, how do you think the arts, and particularly drag, are important in bringing community together and just bringing a bit of levity and hope when we all need it?

I think the arts are more important now than ever for people. We’re going to see this massive influence in how art is going to shape our conversation surrounding what’s going on in the world and what’s going on in the country. And so, aside from the fact that the show is a joyous, wonderful, fun time for people to come and turn to if they want a distraction, also for many people across the country, this show is a tradition. Like I said, it’s the 10th anniversary, so over the last decade, people have been coming with their friends, their chosen family, or they’ve been coming with their actual biological family, and they’ve been marking the holidays in this way. But I think it is really important to acknowledge the fact that art — regardless of it’s drag or if it’s film or if it’s television, or if it’s local drag in your own community, or painting, whatever it is — is going to save us and get us through this. And those conversations that are really vital to have are going to be centered around art in some way or another. I’m really just excited to use this opportunity to tour the country with a message of hope, with a message of joy, and a message of marking a new tradition or coming home to a familiar tradition. Everyone’s coming to the show for a different reason, but at the end of the day, we want everyone to leave having had a wonderful time, the ability to leave our problems at the door and come in and just celebrate and have a great time. So, that’s our hope. And then, looking forward.. we’ll see what happens.

Do you believe that the best art comes out of dark and troubled times? People have referenced other moments in history, or other fraught political times or times of war, and cited that some great art was created during those times.

I think that all art is a response to some things at any given point. It could be a global dark time. It could be a personal dark time — someone’s personal depression could lead to some of the most magnificent things that we’ve ever seen, but there might not have been any global calamity happening at that time. I just think art deserves protecting in any way, shape, or form, in any time period — the value of what it does for us to find comfort, to find solace, to spark conversation, to have collaboration, to grow from, and to learn from. I think that’s the job of art. I don’t think it’s any less important at any given time. It’s so important all of the time.

Do you feel that drag, specifically drag, is inherently a political act?

Oh, yeah. I mean, putting on drag is a political act; there’s no way around that. I think I’m so old-school that drag is political to me, right? But now drag is on television all across the world, so people are coming at it in a different way than how I came to drag. My perspective is going to be different from someone else’s perspective who may be 20 years younger than me. But I think innately, our act of getting in drag is at its core a political act, because we’re bucking the system and we’re wearing clothes that are not made for what our gender-marker might be. And that’s political alone, but at its core also, drag is this subcultural art form in that it’s multi-pronged. It is there to be political, but it’s also there to be a reminder of what we are as queer people, which is when people oftentimes don’t provide us a space, we find our own space and we create our own joy and we create our own celebrations. And I think that this [holiday show] is just a further continuance of that we’re celebrating. We’re continuing this joy down this path. That’s what we’re doing with this Christmas tour, which is reminding people that there’s joy out there in the world to be harvested and to be shared and to be given to one another. I think that that’s the job here. The job is to be givers of joy and using our platforms to speak to that joy, and to also challenge people into what creates the best, most equitable and fair and equal society and culture for all of us.

Well said! Would you ever go into politics yourself? Nina West for President! I’m sure you’ve been asked that before.

No, no. I come from a family of politics, of politicians. I grew up in that environment and I grew up in the culture of that. I think that I’m better served outside of that, using my voice and my platform, raising money for causes that are very, very near and dear to my heart, specifically LGBTQ+ causes, and being there for my community in ways that I don’t know if I could do if I was an elected official.

Tell me more about your family’s political background.

I was raised [in politics]. I went to the Republican National Convention in 1992 in Houston, Texas, with my grandfather, who was a delegate. Everyone — my parents, my grandparents — all had partisan jobs working for the party in some way or another, the Republican party. And so, I am kind of like the black sheep of my family, and I proudly wear my fleece! But I also recognize that in my desire to seek equality and equity and my desire to want to be a voice for myself, primarily provide agency for myself, that I feel like it’s better for me to be a disruptor outside of the system. … I like where I’m at now.

Is your family cool with what you do for a living?

Oh, yeah. I mean, we have many families across the country where this year they’re going to have to have those difficult conversations — or they’re not going to! How that works and how I navigate my own personal relationships with my parents is challenging. And with my siblings, it’s challenging. But those are those things that I keep kind of close to me. Those are personal things that, however I navigate that, I use that to inform me and empower me going forward as my public persona. But I really try to keep that part separate.

I understand that. I do think it’s interesting, though, because I imagine with your background, you have a well-rounded understanding of why our nation is where it’s at right now. You probably have a lot of insight.

I think my desire being a progressive was to have collaboration and conversation. For many years, I think that’s where I sat on the fence: “OK, how can I get you to see my point of view and understand where I’m coming from?” And I think that that necessarily wasn’t always understood nor is it reciprocated, nor is it respected, especially in this era. So, right now, my goal is to be my best advocate for myself and for my community, and regardless of whether or not someone wants to understand that, it’s not my job. This is all in process]; we’re only three weeks out from what’s just happened [with the presidential election], so I’m still processing and trying to figure out what my role is in all of that. I know that I’m not giving up. I know that I’m not going to sacrifice my voice or my desire to fight for this community in the way that I have in the years past and basically my entire queer life. But also, I think I’m taking some pause, like lot of people. I’m taking pause to reflect on where I’m best at and where my best resources and where my efforts are best laid. And I don’t know if being a conduit for conversation is necessarily the best place for me right now. I think more so advocating for my community in powerful and thoughtful ways is really where I think I’m best at of use.

One of the reasons I’ve brought up this line of questioning is not just because you’re so politically astute and active, but your whole Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez connection. I think that was one of the best moments in Drag Race herstory. AOC was so sincerely upset when you were eliminated in Season 11! She was on Instagram Live expressing her sadness and giving you a shout-out.

I’m such a fan of AOC, and I’m inspired by how AOC navigates a really crazy, crazy world and navigates social media and does her job, I think pretty remarkably. I was thrilled that she was moved by my elimination — as much as I was moved by my elimination! I think it was such a funny, weird thing that came out of my experience on Drag Race, and I’m just grateful that she saw me and connected to me in a way that I was hoping everybody would, being vulnerable and telling my story — which I had no intention of doing. I had no intention of being that vulnerable in television, because you get caught up in it. You get swept up in the moments of all of it. I had no intentionality of revealing so much about myself in that way. But she connected to that, and lot of people did across the world, and I’m grateful for that.

Did you ever have conversations off-camera or after the show, like via DMs or anything like that?

Yeah, and it has been lovely. I don’t know her, I shouldn’t say we’re friends — I don’t have her number in my phone — but especially when I was eliminated, there was some DMing back and forth, which was awesome and made me feel just really great about myself and about the work that I had done up to that point, and the work that I continue to do. Drag is this art form that is so uniquely queer, and it’s so uniquely positioned in its point of view within a community, which makes it very, very unique now. And it belongs to the world right now. Drag is in pop culture. Everybody can have access to it and can do it, but at its core and at its roots and at its growth of where it starts, it comes from LGBTQ+ people. And it’s a wonderful thing for us to be able to celebrate that. Again, I keep going back to these notions of celebration and joy.

‘Tis the season!

Yes, but it’s also what drag does. Drag is there to provide agency, and drag is there to defend and protect and to give the community agency and power. I think in this holiday spirit we do that, but also at its core, that’s what drag is — just this magical, powerful, wonderful queer art that we get to celebrate and embrace. I’m really grateful that a show like Drag Race exists, and that drag has popped into the pop-culture zeitgeist and changed how people view things and care for one another and care about their LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. It’s remarkable. I do believe drag at its core as an art form is this joy-filled, complex, wonderful thing.

I also think it’s great that drag has gone mainstream, mostly because of RuPaul’s Drag Race. But a few years ago, I moderated a panel at DragCon called “Seasoned Queens” with some veteran drag entertainers, and the debate came up that some people kind of miss when drag was more subversive, disruptive, underground, or even dangerous, and now it was too mainstream and safe. As someone who’s been doing drag for 20 years, what are your thoughts about that?

I think drag exists in a variety of ways. … Being dangerous to me is drag with, I guess, no definition, no boundaries, no borders. I think that it still exists. It’s just, where do you find it? Because it’s like the conversation surrounding art. People are going to continue to create it. What we’re seeing as a whole, what we’re all consuming, is a very safe form of drag which is produced and created for television. But this dangerous, club-kid, Goth, dark, genderfuck, however it’s defined, it exists. It still is happening. Art will be created. These people will create this art. As much as people want to try to say, “Oh, it’s being watered down,” actually, no — you just don’t know where to look for it. Our show is in Brooklyn tonight, and Brooklyn is the capital of where, in my mind, creative, new, smart, stupid, awesome… it’s all being created here. The drag scene here might not be on the tip of everyone’s tongue, but what they’re doing here, five years from now someone on Drag Race is going to be doing it, and you’re going to go, “Oh, that’s so amazing, that’s so hot!” But some king, some queen, some entertainer here in Brooklyn — or in Poughkeepsie or in Sheboygan or in Ames, Iowa — they’re doing it already. It’s just like, are you willing enough to turn off your television and go out into your local community and go see a local drag show? That’s really where the challenge is, because it does exist. I know it for a fact that it exists.

And it’s very important, given all the things we’ve been discussing, that we support local drag and keep it going, because there are some people in this country who want to shut down that kind of entertainment. But I know you use your platform, which you have from being on a mainstream TV show, to promote many causes. What are you doing with your platform these days?

I’ve raised money for local organizations in Columbus, Ohio, since 2001. I created the Nina West Foundation in 2015, and we’ve donated millions of dollars to organizations both locally and nationally. I utilized my platform in a variety of ways through the election. Specifically in the last few months, I was trying to engage people in getting involved in phone-banking, canvassing, finding out how to get involved in the electoral process. That’s just a topical, recent example. Going into 2025, I’m doing a production of Into the Woods which benefits Nationwide Children’s Hospital, an organization I’ve worked with many times over the years. All the money raised goes to palliative and hospice care for kids who are fighting or battling diseases. And also, in tandem, the largest Ronald McDonald House in the world is in my hometown of Columbus, so we’ve done a lot of work with them over the years. But specifically, more so the call, I think, is to work for LGBTQIA+ causes right now, and to help make sure that our LGBTQIA+ youth feel safe and seen and protected. I’m working with a local organization called Kaleidoscope Youth Center, which is a LGBTQIA+ youth drop-in center in Columbus, Ohio, the only one in the state. And I’m also servicing and working with organizations like the Trevor Project, which is who I raised money for on my season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars — I raised well over $70,000 for them both in crowdsourcing and on the show. So, I’m continuing that work and continuing to tell those stories and those narratives to ensure that people, when you see yourself, you can be yourself. That’s a really powerful statement.

I remind people again why this Christmas show is important. When people come here, when they see queer art being performed and celebrated, they feel like maybe that’s the one thing this season that’s going to get them through. Because for a lot of LGTBQ+ people, the holidays are not great. They’re not fun. They don’t have a family to go home to anymore. It’s difficult. It reminds everyone of what’s maybe been lost during their holidays, from when they were kids to how they are as an adult. And so, I think my job as the host and my job with the show, and what I like to do with my platform, is to remind people that they have a place and that they are in fact valid. They should embrace their own agency, and they should take up space and claim who they are. And that’s all enveloped and wrapped up in this.

You’re Miss Congeniality for a reason!

They can’t take that [title] away from me. It’ll say it on my grave!

It’s a well-earned, well-deserved title! So, let’s wrap this interview on a positive note, because obviously we’ve talked about some things that aren’t so celebratory. Going into the new year, which is probably going to be a weird year, what are your hopes for 2025?

I think the next year is going to be requiring us to reconnect with one another as a community, and remind ourselves of who we are to one another. I think it’s a year for refocusing and growth, and I think that’s exciting. And I’m up for the challenge of being reminded of who we are at our core as an LGBTQIA+ community. I think that’s something to look forward to, to see the vibrancy and the beauty of this community really show itself. I think that that’s what people need to look at that, and I think that that will happen.

Nina West for President! Just sayin’.